Topics

There’s a good reason no team has repeated as Stanley Cup champion since the Detroit Red Wings of 1997 and 1998. “It’s hard. Damned hard,” said Kings right wing Justin Williams, who was voted the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs in the dramatic championship run last spring. The Kings, who won the Cup in 2012 but lost to Chicago in the 2013 Western Conference final, believe they can repeat because they stayed intact, except for defenseman Willie Mitchell’s departure as a free agent. But other conference rivals appear to have improved, including the 2010 and 2013 champion Blackhawks and the Ducks, who acquired center Ryan Kesler. Here’s how the...

Related "Blake Wheeler" Articles

There’s a good reason no team has repeated as Stanley Cup champion since the Detroit Red Wings of 1997 and 1998. “It’s hard. Damned hard,” said Kings right wing Justin Williams, who was voted the Most Valuable Player of the playoffs in the dramatic...

In goaltender Jonathan Quick's second start for the Kings this season, he was yanked after yielding four goals to Winnipeg on 27 shots. In his third start he gave up a blooper goal to the New York Rangers when he dropped his stick and a dump-in...

Maybe it took going to Sochi for the Winter Olympics and getting out of the grinding day-to-day NHL routine to get a slightly different look at the abilities of goalie Jonathan Quick.
After all, Kings captain Dustin Brown has been there through the...

Upon further review . . .
Teammates were more than impressed with Kings goalie Jonathan Quick's incredible kick save on Blake Wheeler with just under a minute remaining in their 4-2 win over Winnipeg on Saturday night.
Quick was on his stomach and...

Every team wants to believe it has a no-quit attitude, but on a flat Monday, trailing by four goals, getting outshot, 25-6, the Ducks had reason to believe their night was kaput.
“Miracles happen in this league,” said Ducks Coach Bruce Boudreau.
The...

Intent on building a smart, speedy squad that can transition quickly from offense to defense and back again on wide Olympic ice, Team USA executives decided that statistics mattered less than hockey sense and that a strong body of work outweighed injuries...

Times columnist Helene Elliott rates the pluses and minuses in the NHL from the previous week:
+ Chicago wing Patrick Kane is giving Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby a good challenge for the scoring title. Kane's assist Sunday in the Blackhawks' 3-1 victory...

The men who will wear the red, white and blue of Team USA at the Sochi Olympics have been sporting a lot of black and blue this season.
Injuries have clouded the medal prospects for the Americans, who will bring back the core of a team that won the...

The Ducks were on Anaheim ice Tuesday night, but their minds seemed to be on Dodger Stadium.
Goalie Jonas Hiller was beaten by shots that routinely find his glove. The Ducks' offensive pressure was intense, but the aim was off, with 36 shots blocked.
...

WINNIPEG, Canada — Corey Perry took advantage of a defensive mistake to score the winner in the third period of the Ducks' 3-2 victory over the Jets on Sunday night, when Teemu Selanne got a standing ovation in what could be his last visit to Winnipeg.
...

David Poile, general manager of the U.S. men’s Olympic hockey team, apologized Friday to forward Bobby Ryan after disparaging comments about the winger’s abilities that were made during the team selection process were published by two reporters who had...